Fans of dogs in costumes—100% of the population, surely?—have been dealt a heavy blow by today's news that New York's annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade has been canceled.
This iconic volunteer-run event, which has drawn thousands to NYC's East Village to witness human ingenuity in canine costuming for almost 30 years, apparently fell victim to its own success. "The Parks Dept is asking for a large insurance and liability policy in order to hold the event this year," the organizers announced on Facebook, "and we simply don’t have the funds or sponsor willing to provide it.”
Given that images from the parade have been a staple of the Internet's churning Cute Factory for many years now, people far beyond Manhattan's borders have taken this news hard. Therefore, I submit this humble proposal: San Francisco should—nay, must—step up to host the Halloween Dog Parade!
Please consider my reasons why:
We already have more dogs than kids
The long-running suspicion that there are more dogs than children in San Francisco has been proven by data, and verified by our own Bay Curious team. (Fact: San Francisco has the lowest percentage of children of any major city, according to U.S. census data.) So it's not like there'd be a shortage of pups to take part.
The Bay Area is no stranger to dog-tertainment
We host the World Dog Surfing Championships, for crying out loud! Local stores clearly sell dog-sized costumes, as the number of dressed-up pups in last year's Potrero Pet Parade testifies. The SF SPCA even has an existing Halloween costume contest, although they let kids compete (i.e. cheat) in that one. Plus there's CorgiCon, Strutt Your Mutt and dog-friendly movie screenings. Hosting a giant Halloween parade for these canines would be no great feat, is what I'm saying.
October is our summer
The NYC event was previously scheduled for October—a month in which that city's average low temperature is a terrifying 47 degrees. In San Francisco, it's a whopping 54! But seriously, by Halloween the fog that blankets us during the months NYC calls summer has lifted, resulting in beautiful weather that will surely make for perfect Instagrams from the parade. East Coasters will flock to our shores, in search of the dressed-up dogs and the sunshine they so miss! What a win for tourism.
